A/N: First scene of this chapter was one of my favourite to write for this story. I hope you like :) And thank you all for the lovely reviews on the previous! :)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 24

The last of Rory's finals was complete. She had texted her mom to tell her she would be home soon and then followed up with a message to Jess. Now she was alone in her dorm, packing and taping up the last of her boxes in preparation to leave Yale for the Summer.

First year done. It seemed like she had only just begun, and at the same time, as if she had been here forever. Rory smiled as she glanced around the room that she had shared with Paris, Janet, and Tanna since September. Happy memories, good times. There was no part of her that regretted choosing Yale over Harvard. Being miles and miles away from her mom, her grandparents, Lane, Luke, and even Paris, it would've been so hard, and in the end, Rory couldn't think she would have really benefited from a better education. Yale was great, she liked it a lot, and it really was good to be so close to home.

Jess was another reason that Rory was glad she stayed in Connecticut. To think that if she had gone off to Harvard, she might not have been around when he came back for his car a few months ago. They might have missed their chance, again, and that would be awful. Rory couldn't imagine it and she didn't care to. She picked up the cup from the shelf and took a sip, trying not to wince at the taste. All the alcohol left over on their floor had been mixed together and divided up amongst everybody. Rory wasn't sure why she was actually drinking it. It just seemed like the thing to do.

"Hello, Rory."

She almost spat her mouthful back into the cup when she heard the voice behind her. Putting her drink down, she turned around fast and painted on a smile.

"Hey, Grandma. What are you doing here?"

Rory had a hand near her mouth when she spoke, and very carefully turned her face away when Emily came into the room to give her a hug.

"Well, I was thinking about what you said last night at dinner about your last final being today. I just thought it might be nice for you to have a friendly face to greet you when you got out of that exam."

"Thank you, that's really great of you, but..." Rory's voice trailed away when she noticed another person hovering in the doorway. "Um, can I help you?"

"Oh no, you don't need to help him, he's here to help you," said Emily, gesturing for the mystery man to come on in. "Rory, I'd like you to meet Graham."

Rory was sure she was blushing throughout the entire introduction, feeling more than a little awkward as Graham shook her hand and grinned big. This was a set up. They were all very aware of that, even if nobody was coming out and saying it. The problem was, out of the three of them, only Rory knew this was a fruitless endeavour. Certain as she was that Graham was a really nice guy, and honestly, he wasn't bad looking either, Rory had a boyfriend. Jess was the man she loved, and having her grandmother throw another guy at her in the hopes of making a match would have been pretty embarrassing even if she wasn't already involved with somebody else. Right now it was all but mortifying.

"So, I was thinking that Graham could help you get all your boxes packed up and then you could join him and his friends on their little excursion tonight," said Emily with a smile. "Doesn't that sound like fun?"

"Um..." Rory begun, unsure how best to politely decline the offer without offending either her grandmother or the new guy.

"I don't mind helping out," Graham insisted, picking up the tape gun. "And you really would be more than welcome to come out with us tonight. It's just a few drinks, nothing fancy, but the more, the merrier."

"That's very sweet, and thank you, really, I appreciate the offer... the two offers, the help and the drinks," Rory explained, pushing her hair back behind her ear in a nervous gesture. "It's just that..."

"Knock, knock!" said a voice by the open door, the owner of which looked a little startled to find more than just Rory in the dorm room. "Huh."

"Jess, hey," said Rory, rushing to his side. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought you might need a little help with your boxes," he said, eyes on Emily and Graham even as he spoke to Rory. "Seems like you already have a whole army of helpers."

Grabbing his hand, Rory dragged Jess into the room, smiling too much as she faced her grandmother's disapproving glare.

"Grandma, you remember Jess."

"How could I forget?" she replied acidly.

"Mrs Gilmore," he said, nodding once and trying for a smile that didn't quite happen.

The next second he was eyeing Graham with distaste again. Rory's grip on his hand tightened some more. As if this situation needed any more awkward.

"This is a little embarrassing," she said, shifting from foot to foot. "You see, last night at dinner, I really should've told you about Jess," she said to Emily. "He, er, he came back to Stars Hollow a while ago and, well, it's more of a recent development, but we figured things out and we got back together."

Rory could hardly look at her grandmother, but she knew there was a sneer on her lips. She never really liked Jess in the first place, especially after the whole black eye incident. Now add to that the fact she was lacking important information about Rory's life, plus the embarrassment of having tried to set Rory up with a guy when she was already dating another, it really was an awful mess.

"Oh, okay" said Graham, looking just a little bemused. "I'm sorry, man, I wasn't trying to step on your toes," he told Jess. "Just a misunderstanding, right?"

"Sure," said Jess, shaking the hand he was offered and watching the mystery man walk away. "Dean 2.0?" he asked Rory in a muttered tone.

"Kind of," she admitted, before giving her attention back to Emily. "I'm so sorry, Grandma. I really should have told you sooner, about Jess I mean, but it was still very sweet of you to come over to see me today, and to bring me a friend in case I needed one."

"Yes, well," she said, putting her nose in the air. "Now I see you don't need anything else, I should be getting home. I'll see you next Friday, Rory."

Before her granddaughter could hardly reply, Mrs Gilmore had swept out of the room. Jess bit back a smirk.

"Well, that went better than the last time we were in the same room. I mean, at least I don't have the black eye this time."

Rory laughed. She couldn't help it. She should be mad at him for being all smart alecky and mortified by what just happened with her grandma and Graham. Actually she just found it way too amusing. She turned into Jess' embrace, her forehead against his shoulder as she shook with laughter. He was just a little confused by the reaction.

"Are you drunk?" he asked, sure he could smell liquor and knowing damn well this was not how Rory usually behaved.

"Maybe a little," she admitted, picking her head up to look at him. "Mostly I'm just happy," she said, planting a kiss on his lips.

Before he had a chance to ask more about the alcohol on her breath, Rory reached for the hidden paper cup and offered him a taste. Jess took a sip and made a face.

"That's just wrong."

"Hmm, I don't know," said Rory. "Sometimes things that seem wrong to begin with turn out pretty good in the end."

Somehow Jess didn't think they were talking about booze anymore.

"So this is how it is? You're a philosophical drunk?"

"I don't know." Rory giggled some, arms locking around his neck. "Right now, I'm just happy. Happy you're here, happy that I'm done with finals!" she practically yelled, almost deafening Jess in the process, though he didn't seem to mind at all.

"Happy that I came to take you home?"

"Yes, very happy about that," she assured him. "And we should get moving. I don't want to be late for your mom's wedding, and the guy giving the bride away certainly can't be late either."

She was out of his arms in a second, and that wasn't the only reason Jess felt cold. He really wasn't looking forward to this afternoon. Liz being in Stars Hollow at all completely threw him off. He was so glad he got his apartment in New Haven before she showed up, otherwise he would've been stuck in pretty close quarters the last few days, and that might've driven him completely crazy! As it was, it really hadn't been too bad. He hadn't seen so much of Liz and the first time he had to face her, Rory had been with him. It helped having her there, she deflected some of the attention for one thing, plus he had told her as much of his history with his mother as seemed relevant. Rory was just about the only person on the planet he could stand to be that honest with. The only woman he had ever loved like this.

"Jess?" she said when she caught him staring at her. "You okay?"

"Yeah," he told her, nodding his head. "I'm good. Er, I'll make a start on putting the boxes in the car."

Rory watched him go, one of the heavier boxes in his arms. She might be worried about his going quiet on her, but she wasn't because when she caught him in a stare at least he had been smiling. He did that a lot lately, and Rory didn't mind it at all, especially when those looks were being aimed at her. She thought a lot about how happy Jess made her, but it was just as nice to realise how happy she seemed to be making him.

"See, now, if you had looked like this when my grandma saw you this morning, she might've been a little less sneery," said Rory with a grin.

Here in the circle of Jess' arms, dancing at his mother's latest wedding, it was easy to laugh and make jokes. Before the actual ceremony it hadn't been quite so simple. The dress got torn, Luke got antsy, and Jess had a terrible urge to bolt from the scene. In the end, they got the job done. Jess cleaned up as well as Rory knew he could, walked Liz down the outdoors-aisle, and the Ren Fayre wedding had gone off without a hitch, but not without a giggle.

"And if the great Emily Gilmore had seen this wedding, her eyes would've popped clean out of her head!" Jess declared, smiling just the same because it was impossible not to in the circumstances. "Seriously? The singing priest, the sword planting, and T.J. talking about nothing but all the advantages to tights? This whole event is the biggest freak show this freak show town ever put on!"

"You can make fun all you want, and I can't blame you for that or say you're wrong," Rory admitted, "but I honestly think it's all kind of perfect. I mean, your mom is... non-traditional, and her friends are a little eccentric, but look how happy everybody is. You gotta admit, it's been an okay kind of a day."

Jess followed her gaze as they continued to slow dance across the floor. There really were a lot of smiling faces in the square tonight. His mom looked like a giddy teen, and T.J. was grinning like an idiot as he twirled her around and around. All the guests looked happy, and maybe none so much as Luke and Lorelai.

"Gotta say, I don't hate seeing those two happy," he admitted, nodding his head in their general direction. "Luke's a good guy, he deserves to be happy. Your mom too."

Rory smiled wide at that. "You softy," she told him, not even caring when Jess pretended to be affronted by that.

"You tell anybody else that and there'll be trouble."

"I wouldn't dare," she promised, as he kissed her lips. "It's all working out so well. Mrs Kim seems to be adjusting to Lane living with the guys; the Dragonfly is almost ready for its practice run; Mom and Luke are so happy. Plus I don't hate being free for the Summer now."

"You got plans at all?" asked Jess, spinning her around.

"Nothing specific," she said, giggling as she got dizzy from all the turns. "Except for spending time with you, obviously."

"I think I could pencil you into my schedule," he joked. "I mean, now I have those shifts at the bookstore too, I'm going to be pretty busy."

"Andrew's not a tyrant, any more than Luke is," Rory pointed out. "You'll have free time. Besides, even if you work all day, both the store and the diner are closed at night."

As the music ended, Jess pulled Rory impossibly close. "Sometimes I think you're just using me for my body, Miss Gilmore."

"Of course not," she insisted, looking almost too serious. "I'm after your book collection too."

He was laughing when he kissed her then, and she took no convincing to respond in kind. Maybe this wasn't their wedding, it was way too soon for that kind of talk between them, but there was no doubting that Rory and Jess were entirely committed to each other now. Nothing was splitting them apart this time, not a chance.

"Aaaw, cute!" said Lorelai as she looked across at her daughter and Jess. "Luke, look! Cute!"

"Aaw, jeez," he complained when he realised what he had been made to look at.

"C'mon! You gotta at least be a little happy for them," Lorelai complained. "They're happy for us."

"Of course I'm happy for them, and for us," he said definitely, lifting Lorelai's hand that was clasped in his own and kissing it firmly. "Honestly? I'm amazed it hasn't got screwed up yet. I mean, I love Jess, you know I do, but he's not the best at... at saying what he feels or doing the right thing, especially with Rory."

"Hey, his uncle isn't so great with the communication either," she pointed out with a look that soon melted into a smile, "but you guys got there in the end, and you were worth the wait."

"You too," said Luke with a grin he couldn't help, as Lorelai leaned in and their lips met in a sweet kiss. "I love you, Lorelai. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, I know that," she promised, removing her lipstick from his lower lip with her thumb. "And I love you too. Always."

"Hey, we're going to head out," said Jess as he appeared by the table, Rory's hand held tight in his own. "Rory's tired."

"I'll bet she is," said Lorelai with a look.

"Mom!" Rory gasped, looking scandalised, only going quite so red because they all knew the young couple were not going home to bed because they were sleepy!

"You're gonna say goodbye to your mom before you leave, right?" Luke asked Jess.

"Already done" he said with a nod. "I'll see you tomorrow"

They turned to go then, before Rory changed her mind and looked back.

"Oh, Mom? What time do you need me at the inn tomorrow? Now I'm done with school, I really wanna help any way I can."

"Sweetie, you don't have to spend your vacation helping me out with work," Lorelai insisted, but Rory wouldn't change her mind. "Okay, if you insist, but there's no hurry. How about we meet at Luke's for lunch and then head over to the Dragonfly after?"

"Sounds good," her daughter agreed with a smile.

"They're good kids." Lorelai smiled, her head on Luke's shoulder as she watched them walk away.

"Yes, they are," Luke agreed, hugging her close.

To Be Continued...